Donna Kerfoot

Caroline Fry: a Practical Theology of the Sacraments: a View of Nineteenth-century Sacramental Theology in the Church of England Donna Kerfoot

Over the past centuries, women have held an important legacy in the Anglican Church, yet we know very little about the written contributions made, especially in relation to womens'theological opinions in a societal context where men were considered the predominant thinkers and shapers of church doctrine. Caroline Fry (1787-1846),one of many women during the nineteenth century, discovered a unique opportunity to verbalize her written views and engage herself in the controversial debates taking place between church parties in the Church of England in regards to sacramental theology. Fry was an Evangelical, an educator, a theologian and a social reformer in the Church of England. She began her professional writing career in 1823 by writing a monthly periodical entitled, the "Assistant of Education, Religious and Literary." She wrote devotional meditations, prayers, poetry and enthusiastically recounted the moral lessons of real life situations encountered in her travels throughout the English countryside. It is a delight to become acquainted with Fry's written works and pass her view of the "sacraments" on to readers who may become intrigued by what she has to say to them.